Yang Jing could not put his mind at ease. Instead of leaving immediately, he walked over to the willow outside Sun Ningxiang's courtyard gate, found a flat stone to sit on, and waited in silence.
Disciples of Yunxi Peak occasionally passed along the mountain path. Seeing Yang Jing sitting there, they looked surprised and could not resist stealing a few glances at him.
Yang Jing paid them no mind. Leaning against the tree trunk, he gazed at the tightly shut gate and pondered where Sun Ningxiang might have gone.
The wind rustled through the leaves, and time slipped by little by little.
The sky gradually darkened. The sunset's lingering glow stained half the sky red and gilded Yunxi Peak's ridges with warm gold.
After waiting a little over an hour, Yang Jing finally spotted a familiar figure approaching from the end of the mountain path.
It was Sun Ningxiang.
Instead of her usual loose, flowing dresses, she wore a practical blue-green martial outfit that made her posture look all the more upright.
Her steps were hurried; clearly, she was rushing back. When she looked up and saw Yang Jing outside her gate, she froze for a moment. Then an unmistakable flash of delighted surprise appeared in her clear eyes, and her pace involuntarily quickened.
Sun Ningxiang hurried up to Yang Jing. Looking at his familiar figure, she felt a sting in her nose, and her eyes even reddened slightly. "Junior Brother, what brings you here?"
Yang Jing rose to his feet, looking at Sun Ningxiang with some surprise of his own.
As he remembered it, Sun Ningxiang had always favored comfortable, loose robes and dresses. This was his first time seeing her in such a trim martial outfit, and it gave her a considerably more gallant air.
He collected himself